>The liquid yeasts available are specific strains with known
behavior. If you really want something specific from your
yeast, you have a much larger selection to choose from when
choosing liquid yeasts.

This may just be a semantic point but the dry yeast producers probably know
with as much exactness the specific strain and behavior they use as the
liquid producers. One assumes that they maintian a culture lab to monitor
and maintain their process just like the liquid producers.

What may or may not be unknown is what else is in the dry packet besides the
desired strain.

No argument about available choices except that if one liked the taste of
beer made with EDME, for example, Wyeast could not satisfy him either.

>From: oconnor@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (donald oconnor)

>Not a single winning beer at the 1991 AHA national used dry beer yeast.

Please realize that this statment at face falue is nothing but a
self-fulfilling phophesy. When anyone who is seriously interested in
competing reads this, he will no doubt switch to liquid yeast for the next
contest.

It is also quite posible that judges are so tuned to the taste of Wyeast that
they look for it and reject others. If it is used as a standard for judging,
the results will be skewed.

It is also quite possible that liquid yeast does indeed produce a better beer
but that is not necessarily the only conclusion one should draw from your
statement.

>From: richard@pegasus.com (Richard Foulk)
Subject: malting?

>Has anyone here done any malting? The local feed store sells whole barley
for $.30 per pound and it looks okay to me.

It's great fun, very rewarding and easy to do in small quantities. I
demonstrate the process and how to make the necessary equipment in my video.
Perhaps one of the "reviewers" out there, who received a free copy would be
kind enough to send it on to you.

BTW, I suggest you try sprouting a sample before you plunge into this. I was
unable to get better that about 50% germination from feedstore barley and of
course, you have no idea what kind of barley it is.

The ungerminated barley will rot and contaminate the entire batch.

From an economic standpoint, you will have to get your barley for a lot less
than 30 cents a pound to come out ahead.